Australian universities improve slightly in world rankings
Most of Australia's top universities have improved slightly in world rankings, according to the latest global figures.
The QS Top Universities Rankings measure each institution across four broad criteria; research, teaching, employability and international outlook.
The Australian National University was the top-ranked university in the country, coming in at 25th in the world, a slight improvement on the 27th ranking it was given last year.
The University of Melbourne was the next Australian institution in 33rd place, while the University of Sydney was ranked 37th.
Australia has eight universities in the top 100, compared to seven last year.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was the top ranked university in the world, followed by the University of Cambridge and the Imperial College of London.
Harvard University was ranked 4th, followed by the University of Oxford.
The acting vice-chancellor of the ANU, Professor Margaret Harding, welcomed the rankings.
"It reflects the hard work and the quality of the education that's been done at the university," she said.
"And it reflects the great students we have."
Professor Harding said she is confident the improved ranking would help attract international students to the ANU.
"When students are making a choice about what university to study at, they do look at things like rankings in terms of making that decision," she said.
"We have very concentrated expertise in research areas and have a very research-focused education for our students."
Despite the increase in rankings for the ANU, the university has dropped significantly over the last six years.
The ANU was ranked as high as 16th in the world in 2008.
